Are you ready for what I can only presume is the most overdone article ranking list? Today I am going to go through each SHL team in the eastern conference and rank Bo Kane's opinion on the branding of the team. To make things hopefully a little more unique, I will be ranking each team based off the name, logo, and jersey individually. At the end, I will add up the scores to see who is the overall winner. Just as a disclaimer, even if a team ranks very low on these rankings it does NOT mean I have no interest in playing for the team in the future. The branding of a team is the absolute least concern of mine when playing for a team. I will be doing the western conference at a later date and then it'll be a showdown between the top teams in each conference to get the eventual winner.
I personally have never been a fan of the city Buffalo. I also haven’t been there so my opinion doesn’t truly have any good substance so maybe I’m completely wrong and it’s a fantastic city, however, until I visit the city is ranked pretty low for me. I’m also really not a fan of the Stampede name. I would consider myself definitely a “city boy” so things like rodeos and stampedes just don’t spark an interest to me. I also just don’t find the name fits with Buffalo as a city (unless Buffalo hosts a annual stampede I’m unaware of?). I get what they are going for with the animal Buffalo but to me, it just doesn’t work.
Logo: 4/8
I must say, I’m honestly a fan of the Stampede logo which is surprising considering my two least favourite colours in yellow and green are used in the logo. The design of the buffalo into the circle base logo looks awesome and I love the lines throughout the circle to add a little flavour to it. The secondary logo is arguably the best in the league in my opinion. I think I’m just a sucker for logos that are the shape of the state/province if they are done right which it’s absolutely done right here.
Jersey: 3/8
The jerseys of the Stampede are far from bad. I’m a huge fan of the stripes down the sleeves and the bottom of the jerseys, especially on the away jersey. In the end, I think the jerseys are ranking so low just based off a preference of colour. As mentioned before, green and yellow are just not appealing colours to me. Also, those alternate jerseys are horrendous and blinding. Please change…. Please.
Overall Score: 8/24
Chicago Syndicate
Team Name: 4/8
As a Canadian who has never visited most American cities, once again my opinion of Chicago is basically substanceless so take my opinion with a grain of salt. Chicago to me I don’t dislike nor necessarily like. It’s just a normal city to me I guess. The main downfall for Chicago to me is the fact that it gets snow there. I hate snow with a passion which is why Victoria, British Columbia is my 2nd favourite city in Canada (you’ll find out first later). The name Syndicate is badass and it suits the city of Chicago very well. Mobs play a massive role in most major American cities and Chicago is one of those. Syndicate to me just has that villainous corrupt vibe to it so it works very well.
Logo: 2/8
The actual detail design of the logo looks fantastic but to me, it’s just so much going on for a hockey teams logo. The Syndicate also fall victim to my hatred for the colour yellow. I will say the bottom of the logo that says Chicago Syndicate looks fantastic. I love the city background behind the Syndicate text. Judging from the sleeves of the jersey, those are the secondary logo and if that’s true I am a fan of the secondary logo. The secondary logo saves them from being the last place in this ranking.
Jersey: ⅛
These jerseys are disgusting. There’s no polite way to put it. The yellow, black, and grey colourway just looks so dull and boring to me. The logo seems so large in the middle and just has so much going on especially compared to the rest of the jersey. The away jerseys are slightly better than the home jerseys as the white at least ads a little something to the jersey which is such a weird thing to say as I usually prefer home jerseys to away as white is a boring colour/shade.
Overall Score: 7/24
Hamilton Steelhawks
Team Name: ⅞
As a Canadian, a Canadian city is automatically going to be a preference to me (unless you’re in California). Hamilton’s location works really well for me as it’s in Ontario where I grew up for half my life. It’s only an hour drive away from Toronto also which is a huge plus. The name Steelhawks is really cool as well and it fits Hamilton as a city really well as it’s considered the steel capital of Canada. Due to these factors, the Steelhawks have earned the highest team name ranking so far.
Logo: 8/8
The Steelhawks logo is awesome. Blue is my favourite colour the shade of blue they used mixed with the grey and white just looks so clean and sleek. The design of the hawk looks awesome, I love the eyes. The text going across that says Steelhawks looks awesome. Just overall the logo goes together so well, especially with the colourway. My only dislike is the secondary logo. The logo itself looks incredible. I just wish the yellow outline was white or blue instead.
Jersey: 6/8
The jerseys of the Steelhawks are near perfection even though the rank doesn’t seem to justify that. The other two jerseys are just actually perfect in my eyes. The colourway of the jerseys looks awesome and differentiates itself from other jerseys really well. The use of white at the top of the home jersey looks awesome and the yellow/gold outline pops. I love the lining of the jerseys on the sleeves and bottom of the jersey. The blue at the top of the home jersey looks awesome too. The alternative jerseys I’m not a fan of though. The blue and gold/yellow look good together but the solid black the rest of the jersey is boring. The alternative logo I didn’t like also as mentioned before.
Overall Score: 21/24
Manhattan Rage
Team Name: ⅜
I really like the fact that they used Manhattan as the named instead of resorting to the basic New York City or Brooklyn defaults. New York City is obviously a huge positive when ranking cities as anyone who enjoys the city life is obviously going to love the idea of living in New York. With that being said, I’m really disappointed with the name Rage. It’s just so boring in my opinion. I really think they missed out of the opportunity to incorporate the Manhattan Project into the team name. Maybe it could be considered insensitive to do so and that’s why they decided not to, I don’t know.
Logo: 3/8
The logo of the Rage isn’t bad by any means, it’s just not very interesting. I do like the building at the bottom of the logo (I think that’s what it is at least, assuming Empire State Building). Adds a little something to the logo but overall just not a very interesting logo. The red and black just seems like such an overdone combo (this comment is going to backfire later when I compliment another overdone colour combo). I don’t see the correlation of a bull to Manhattan either (maybe I’m just ignorant and missing something) so that’s another negative.
Team Jersey: 4/8
The jersey of the Rage isn’t bad, but it’s also not good. Just like the logo to me, it’s very mid-tier. Not a lot going on that stands out from the rest, very basic and safe. It’s almost a spitting image of the New Jersey Devils from the NHL. The ranking of 4 seems very fair considering I used the word mid to describe the jerseys earlier.
Overall Score: 10/24
New England Wolfpack
Team Name: 2/8
Want to laugh at me? I have obviously heard of New England because of the Patriots but to this day, I still have no idea whereabouts it is in the USA. I have even googled and I don’t understand. Is it in Boston? Is Boston in New England? I have no idea. Since I have no idea where this place is even located and honestly I’ve given up trying I’m not going to rank the team based off the actual city itself. The name New England to me is just ugh. I’m going to assume this city is probably really old based off the name alone which honestly just makes it sadder I don’t know where it is. I’m also not really a fan of the name Wolfpack. I’m not sure if there's a correlation between Wolfpack and New England so I won’t comment on that. The name itself just doesn’t spark an interest to me. I apologize to the Wolfpack though, my lack of knowledge is likely the reason you’re so low here. Not really fair.
Logo: ⅛
The primary logo for the Wolfpack is just a boring logo in my opinion. The design itself looks good, but it’s generic. I also hate the shade of green used. The secondary logo for the team looks like a boys scouts patch/badge. Not really much to say about this logo because there's not really much to it.
Jerseys: 2/4
The home jerseys base colour is black. Must I say more? My god it’s boring and does not look good mixed with that shade of green. If you’re going to do a black jersey you really need to ensure the shading is right and it mixes with the secondary colours. The LA Kings jerseys work because it’s all shades, no colours. The white and grey just work with the black. The away jerseys get a little bit better because of the white looking somewhat acceptable with the green. I don’t even want to talk about those alternate jerseys. They look like they could be some dirt bike teams jerseys. Please ban those SHL.
Overall Score: 5/24
Tampa Bay Barracuda
Team Name: ⅝
Tampa Bay automatically makes it as one of my favourite cities of the SHL teams because it’s got no damn snow. You get to soak up the sun in Florida while playing hockey, what is not to love about this situation? I will say, I’m not a fan of the name Barracuda though. It’s a fish. It’s just not intimidating. A simple google search shows Barracuda’s don't generally attack humans either (not saying it hasn’t happened) so it just adds to the non-intimidation factor.
Logo: ⅝
The logo for the Barracuda is respectable. The colourway of it looks awesome. The text at the bottom that says Barracuda looks good and I like the fact that they have Tampa Bay small on the logo as well. The barracuda biting the stick looks cool also. The secondary logo isn’t anything special. It’s almost identical they just removed the stick and the text and added TB to the side of the barracuda. It’s not bad, just wish it was a little more different from the primary logo.
Jersey: ⅝
The Barracuda go ⅝ across the board here. I actually don’t have much to complain here about Tampa Bay’s jersey. The colourway looks incredible. The lines on the sleeves and bottom of the jerseys look really good and different from the rest of the jerseys. The only reason the Steelhawks beat the Tampa Bay jerseys is because of the yellow/gold which made the jerseys look really unique. Out of all the teams with 3 jerseys in total. The Barracuda’s are the most consistent for having them all be good.
Overall Score: 15/24
Toronto North Stars
Team Name: 8/8
Are you all ready from some heavy bias? Toronto is my favourite city in the world. I have never actually lived there but I have visited the city a ton. I have grown up being a huge Toronto Maple Leafs fan and that passion carries over to the other professional sports teams in Toronto. Toronto is the closest city in Canada that you’ll get to something like a major city in the USA. The atmosphere and vibe of the city is just special to me. The North Stars name is awesome and fits with the city so well. The Toronto Raptors have grabbed ahold of the North title and have branded the team around it and the city and entire country have loved it.
Logo: 6/8
Y’all really thought I was gonna be bias this entire time with Toronto, didn’t you? I really do like the North Stars logo (their older logos are ugly though). I like that they incorporated the CN tower into the maple leaf and the star. The secondary logo of the T is very ok to me and the secondary logo with the maple leaf and star combined isn’t very attractive and is very bland. I think the combo of the maple leaf and star works in the main logo because it’s not one solid object. The star kind of fades and is just partly outlined.
Jersey: ⅞
I mentioned earlier how my comment about the red and block is overdone with professional sports teams and that comment would backfire. While it’s not about to. The shade of blue and white is also very overdone, however, it just looks so good to me. The jersey itself is very simple with just some white stripes but it looks so clean and I like that. The alternative jersey looks incredible. The old school stripes are a weakness of mine. Obviously, these jerseys look heavily influenced by the Toronto Maple Leafs which is likely a bad thing to many people but that’s where my bias comes in.
Overall Score: 21/24
West Kendall Platoon
Team Name: 6/8
I’ll be honest, I had no idea where West Kendall was at all. I had to google it. To find out it’s in Florida is a huge plus for reasons I have described with past teams. I don’t actually know if there is a correlation between West Kendall and a specific platoon or not so I can’t comment on that. What I can say is I just like the sound of the name with Platoon.
Logo: ⅞
This logo is sexy, plain and simple. The font used for West Kendall looks sick and fits the whole Platoon theme. The stars on the side also fit the Platoon vibe and America in general just like the eagle in the middle. The design of the eagle looks awesome also. The colourway of the logo is awesome and screams USA. Their 20th-anniversary logo is very simple but it looks nice. It’s exactly what you’d want for a secondary logo.
Jersey: 8/8
These jerseys are the definition of perfect. The colourway is incredible and stands out and is different than the rest. The actual jersey design gets a huge applause from me as it’s unique. I love the usage of the stripes behind the logo. The away jersey is just as good as the home. Generally, I find once you add the white the jerseys can get boring but due to the perfect colourway and then the different stripe usage, it still looks just as clean. Props to whoever made these. Please make an alternate jersey.
Overall Score: 21/24
Final Rankings T 1st: Toronto North Stars - 21 points T 1st: West Kendall Platoon - 21 points T 1st: Hamilton Steelhawks - 21 points 2nd: Tampa Bay Barracuda - 15 points 3rd: Manhattan Rage - 10 points 4th:Buffalo Stampede - 8 points 5th: Chicago Syndicate - 7 points 6th: New England Wolfpack - 5 points
Want to laugh at me? I have obviously heard of New England because of the Patriots but to this day, I still have no idea whereabouts it is in the USA. I have even googled and I don’t understand. Is it in Boston? Is Boston in New England? I have no idea. Since I have no idea where this place is even located and honestly I’ve given up trying I’m not going to rank the team based off the actual city itself. The name New England to me is just ugh. I’m going to assume this city is probably really old based off the name alone which honestly just makes it sadder I don’t know where it is. I’m also not really a fan of the name Wolfpack. I’m not sure if there's a correlation between Wolfpack and New England so I won’t comment on that. The name itself just doesn’t spark an interest to me. I apologize to the Wolfpack though, my lack of knowledge is likely the reason you’re so low here. Not really fair.
New England isn't a city, it's not even a county or a state. It's the name of a whole region, essentially. You've probably heard to America referred to by cardinal directions. The South, the East Coast, West Coast, Southwest, Midwest, stuff like that. New England is a grouping that's similar to "the Northeast," but much more specific. New England as a region refers to six American states, the six most North-Eastern states, being Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. When most people think of a city in New England though, they think of Boston, MA. Boston is the largest city in any state in New England, and the capital of Massachusetts.
Hmm, I wonder how a Bull could be relevant to the ManhattanRage? Hmm, idk, maybe we should go back to angry polar bears.
An old man's dream ended. A young man's vision of the future opened wide. Young men have visions, old men have dreams. But the place for old men to dream is beside the fire.
Technically, Tampa would become 4th because of the 3 way tie at 1st
But, wow. I might be biased towards Tampa Bay but I actually find they have one of the best logos and jerseys in the league. The name doesnt really sound like a hockey team name but if you forget about that, they have some nice swagger
06-26-2019, 04:34 PMfrithjofr Wrote: New England isn't a city, it's not even a county or a state. It's the name of a whole region, essentially. You've probably heard to America referred to by cardinal directions. The South, the East Coast, West Coast, Southwest, Midwest, stuff like that. New England is a grouping that's similar to "the Northeast," but much more specific. New England as a region refers to six American states, the six most North-Eastern states, being Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. When most people think of a city in New England though, they think of Boston, MA. Boston is the largest city in any state in New England, and the capital of Massachusetts.
Hope that helps.
Actually, it does. Thank you!
Bo Kane has officially ruined his draft stock with half the league.
06-26-2019, 04:38 PMJayWhy Wrote: Hmm, I wonder how a Bull could be relevant to the ManhattanRage? Hmm, idk, maybe we should go back to angry polar bears.
As someone who grew up in and around NYC, the Wall Street bull is an obvious connection to me and i like it. However, I've never been a huge fan of the Manhattan name as opposed to just New York, like the Rangers.
06-26-2019, 04:38 PMJayWhy Wrote: Hmm, I wonder how a Bull could be relevant to the ManhattanRage? Hmm, idk, maybe we should go back to angry polar bears.
As someone who grew up in and around NYC, the Wall Street bull is an obvious connection to me and i like it. However, I've never been a huge fan of the Manhattan name as opposed to just New York, like the Rangers.
Just googled the Wallstreet Bull and yeah the correlation is obviously there now. I had never heard of it before.
Great Article! I look forward to the Western Conference but I worry that LA Panthers will get a low score cause of our generic name, something that when I took over the team was not able to be changed. But in a way the name LA Panthers does fit because Panthers have been found to roam around the Hollywood Hills and the around the sign.
#40 Niclas Wastlund - W - VANCOUVER WHALERS / MINNESOTA MONARCHS
06-27-2019, 05:11 AMWasty Wrote: Great Article! I look forward to the Western Conference but I worry that LA Panthers will get a low score cause of our generic name, something that when I took over the team was not able to be changed. But in a way the name LA Panthers does fit because Panthers have been found to roam around the Hollywood Hills and the around the sign.
Spoiler alert: Although the originality is lacking, I like the name and LA in general.
NONAME
Buffalo Stampede 
Chicago Syndicate 
Hamilton Steelhawks 
Manhattan Rage 
New England Wolfpack 
Tampa Bay Barracuda 
Toronto North Stars 
West Kendall Platoon 
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/ MINNESOTA MONARCHS 
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